Tuesday, March 18, 2008

NIHONTEN: Japan in Lebanon

By Antoine Abi Aaad

The Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts, ALBA, University of Balamand recently organized a workshop and an exhibition “Nihonten” on the theme of Japan as seen by the Lebanese. Conducted by Antoine ABI AAD (Ph.D. in Design, University of Tsukuba in Japan), the purpose of the workshop was to expose a number of Lebanese advertising students to a new culture in order to open up their horizons. And indeed, one of the interesting outcomes of the workshop was the typographical mixing of Latin, Arabic and Japanese types. The 41 students from the school of Decorative Arts, section of Advertising and Graphic Arts followed the workshop for two weeks, and exhibited their works in the third week. ALBA is looking forward to exhibiting in Japan in the near future.

A new perspective on Arabic letters

Generally researchers and writers (especially westerners) tend to tackle the issue of Arabic letters from a religious angle. It somehow interests their public to frame Arabic within a religious context.

Beautiful religious works were executed in the Arab world through centuries of Islamic art, but it is high time that we stop reflecting the situation of the end of the 18th century, last great period of Arabic calligraphy (Othman), and look for/to new dimensions. Encouraging a new perspective at Arabic was one of the purposes of Nihonten, achieved through descriptions of Japan, in Arabic. A historical example would be that of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudy who, although inspired by Arabic culture, was so original and so detached from traditional Arabic patterns: In that sense he made use of the heritage to move forward.One of the new dimensions applied in Nihonten was the mixing of scripts: Latin/Arabic with Japanese. Latin letters through French and English, which are commonly used languages in Lebanon and Japanese language through its 3 systems of writing: Kanji, and the two syllable systems, the Hiragana and the Katakana. It is interesting to see weird mixtures of French, English, Arabic and Japanese languages through Latin, Arabic, Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana mixtures; it impresses people through their new approach of mixing types. In fact, this is how the Iranian designers are excelling internationally: impressing audiences with relatively new letters, Arabic ones. In fact, this is what was done with Japanese and Chinese characters in the last century. Chinese and Arabic calligraphies being the richest and oldest calligraphies accentuate this case comparison.

As for the Lebanese, visuals can be even more creative: multilingual by nature, the Lebanese can show their culture visually. It is a great potential that should be explored further.

Antoun, i am very impressed by the initiative, the approach and the outcome. They are truly well researched and solid. I hope it was as fulfilling as you thought it would be. I can see from here that the whole process was very exciting.I wish i was a student again! Keep me posted!Mounia

It is very refreshing to see this much creativity coming out despite the current sterile conditions in Lebanon.

I hope this brief exposure of Lebanese Arts Students to Japan and to its Culture will incite Politicians and Political Science Professors and Students to study, evaluate, and implement some Japanese standards to politeness and decency to the "NOT-SO-POLITICAL" DIALOGUE that's been going on in Lebanon for so long.

I also hope that this example will open up the eyes of some faculty members to study the Japanese civil education system and try to copy it and implement it in such a way as to become the solid foundation for the creation of a new Lebanon. We desperately need to learn from Japan and from the Japanese.

To Antoine, writing from Tokyo. I was stunned by the excellent quality in the posters link you sent- you should send the link to www.khtt.net The posters are amazing, especially since during the 1960's when I came to Japan, anyone making graphics like these would have been considered the most advanced in the Arab world. Seeing these posters with the young people full of youth, intelligence, humor and hope is a positive experience thanks.

Loved the work, every single one of the posters is completely different and unique in its own way...The whole process looks like a lot of fun...And the collaboration between Lebanon and Japan is what makes it even more interesting...Exhibitions like this should definitely happen more often...Sonia

After a long time from the date of the workshop and I still wonder why it did take place, in fact why did it take much of our time?

We didn't rise to the expressions of the Iranians with the beauty of working in type. Nor where the scripts looked at as scripts but merely as shapes... the height of the expression in the exposition of how we see Japan was :"mashilna yeha" (let it pass by) or “ya amar ma y hezak tombleman” ( moon, let no earth quake move you)…

I wish we could have learned one thing from a Japanese workshop, that the Japanese have nothing to say yet they say it beautifully. But alas ...

After all I guess anything is permitted when you think you are the best in what you do.

Louis, Your questions were answered from the first day, it is up to you to believe in answers or not. It is up to you to see the world black or colored. To answer one by one, I don’t think the workshop took too much of your time, it took some time from the other’s. “Nor where the scripts looked at as scripts but merely as shapes”, letters are meaningless shapes for meaningless sounds, does it ring a bell?

No one made fun of your “seppuku”, you don’t have the right to make fun of others, especially that your opinion worth nothing that a personal opinion. I also wish you have learned something, not from the workshop, but from ALBA, or from life itself. I do wish you to have a positive look to the world otherwise everything would be as macabre as yourself.

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